If you suffer from allergies and want a robot vacuum to handle your light-duty cleaning needs, the iRobot Roomba S9 is a solid option. Unlike the comparably-priced Roborock S7 MaxV, this premium robot vacuum lacks a mopping system and has a simpler optical sensor-based system that can’t recognize and avoid obstacles in real-time. Still, if you don’t want or need these features and want something better at filtering out allergens, it’s worth a look.
Since joining the Reviewed in 2012, Jon has helped launch the company’s efforts in reviewing laptops, vacuums, and outdoor gear. In the pursuit of data, he’s plunged his hands into freezing cold water, consented to be literally dragged through the mud, and watched paint dry. Dyson says this is because it covers the most amount of square footage with the least amount of movement—saving battery life and time. If you were to turn on the Eye in the middle of an empty room, you’d see it move one robot-width every time it turned, spiraling outwards until it hit the edges of the room.
This vac learns as it goes, mapping out the best way to navigate your home while it cleans. It also returns to the docking station to empty itself mid-clean before continuing vacuuming. It picked up dirt outstandingly and dyson robot vacuum had no trouble with pet hair either. Acing our pick-up tests on carpet and hard floors, this is a reliable investment. It’s self-emptying and can store up to 60 days’ worth of dust into its accompanying docking station.
This resulted in it taking 50 minutes to map and 35 minutes to clean our test room, a poor result compared to other robot vacuums. This vacuum does a fantastic job of handling solid debris on surfaces like laminate or hardwood and is fairly adept when it comes to handling pet hair. However, its weak suction motor means it struggles to clear away debris embedded deep within carpet fibers. Thankfully, it makes very little noise while running, which is great if you have a pet that’s skittish around loud vacuums. Basically, the 360 Eye stands as proof that Dyson can make as big a splash in the robot vacuum market as it has nearly everywhere else. Still, at $999, we think it’s worth waiting for the next version.
It said it plans to recruit a further 700 robotics engineers in fields such as computer vision, machine learning, sensors and mechatronics over the next five years. To get from those bare floors to the carpet, the Dyson 360 Eye travels around shark cordless on tank treads. We observed the Eye climbing atop risers up to two-thirds of an inch tall without getting stuck. In the real world, that means that high-pile throw rugs and metal thresholds will not daunt the 360 Eye in the least.
That said, unlike the more powerful S7 MaxV or Ecovacs, it uses only a LIDAR sensor to navigate and has no cameras that allow it to see and avoid low-lying hazards in real-time. Machine must be the exact same model number as it appears on Dyson.com and in stock. You can identify the machine serial number on the box or on the product itself.
However, while it has a mopping feature, it’s a rudimentary passive system and isn’t nearly as effective for scrubbing away stains. Otherwise, it still has a pretty advanced set of automation features. You can use its companion app to set up virtual boundary lines, direct it to a specific area, or schedule cleaning sessions for individual rooms. Debris pickup performance is quite strong, and it’s compatible with a self-emptying dyson robot vacuum station to minimize hands-on maintenance, though this dock is quite pricey. If you don’t have time to regularly sweep or vacuum, robot vacuums are an easy way to make sure your home stays clean without you needing to do all the work. Since they use various types of technology like lasers or cameras to navigate and maneuver around a room, they can generally avoid furniture and get beneath couches and tables with relative ease.
Other robotic vacuums operate on an efficient, hug-the-walls, cleaning-inwards spiral pattern. The Heurist has been designed as a ‘learning’ robot which means that it does not take the simplest route, because it is constantly recalculating it’s distance from walls and furniture. So rather than, say, following a wall for two metres, it will stop and start while it scans the wall every few seconds.